Speckled Egg Malted Milk Cake

This bespeckled beauty, with its clever play on everyone’s favorite malted milk candy eggs, is just the dessert to get guests talking (and leave them wanting more!).

Ingredients:

Cake:

1          box Betty Crocker™ SuperMoist™ white cake mix

1/2       cup malted milk powder

1 1/4    cups water

1/3       cup vegetable oil

3          eggs

Frosting:

1 1/2    cups unsalted butter, softened

4          cups powdered sugar

1          teaspoon vanilla

            Dash salt

            Liquid blue food color

Speckling Chocolate:

1         tablespoon unsweetened baking cocoa

4 1/2   teaspoons vanilla

Phyllo Nest:

1/3      cup kataifi (shredded phyllo dough)

1         tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

3         speckled candy-coated malted milk egg candies

Directions:

• 1 Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 3 (8-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray; set aside.
• 2 In large bowl, stir together cake mix and malted milk powder with whisk. Add remaining Cake ingredients; beat with electric mixer on low speed until well combined. Divide batter evenly among pans.
• 3 Bake 22 to 28 minutes or until cakes spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool cakes in pans on cooling racks 5 minutes. Turn cakes out onto cooling racks; cool completely, about 30 minutes. Level cakes using large serrated knife or cake leveler, if needed.
• 4 To make Frosting, in large bowl, beat softened butter and powdered sugar with electric mixer on low speed until incorporated; beat on high speed 3 minutes. Add vanilla and salt; beat 1 minute longer. Add blue food color 1 drop at a time, beating until a light blue color is achieved.
• 5 Fill and frost cooled cake. Refrigerate frosted cake 1 hour or until frosting is dry to the touch.
• 6 In small condiment bowl, mix baking cocoa and vanilla. Load unused (new) stiff-bristle paint brush with cocoa mixture. Using fingers, flick loaded brush bristles toward cake creating a splatter pattern. Re-load brush; cover entire cake with chocolate speckles. Refrigerate cake 30 minutes.
• 7 To make Phyllo Nest, heat oven to 375°F. Butter 1 muffin cup in regular-size muffin pan. Tear off 1/3 cup portion of kataifi; place in muffin cup in a circular nest shape. Gently brush phyllo nest with melted butter. Bake 15 minutes or until phyllo is golden brown around edge. Gently remove nest with fork; cool on cooling rack. Attach cooled nest to cake with dot of frosting. Place 3 speckled egg candies inside nest.
• 8 Before serving, bring cake to room temperature. Store cake loosely covered with plastic wrap.

• Expert Tips

  Buy a new stiff-bristled craft brush to use for cake-speckling purposes. Most any size will work, but a 2-inch brush or larger will cover more surface area and make quicker work.
  Kataifi can usually be found in the frozen grocery aisle with the ready-made pie crusts and puff pastry. It can also be found at Middle Eastern grocery stores and international markets.
  The malted milk egg candies can be speckled with the chocolate to match the cake perfectly. Cover your work surface and lay the candies on a paper towel before you begin speckling them. Allow the candies to dry for 5 minutes before transferring them to the nest on top of the cake. 

Source:  bettycrocker.com